bbc news. our top story — russia has been banned from next year's winter olympics in south korea. it follows an investigation into state sponsored doping. but the international olympic committee says individual russian athletes who pass a vetting process will be allowed to compete. a number of middle east leaders have told president trump that any plan to move america's embassy in israel tojerusalem will have dangerous repercussions. mr trump will make an announcement later on wednesday. and this video is trending on bbc.com. astronauts on the international space station have been enjoying a pizza party. the ingredients were sent up into space by nasa, after an italian astronaut told mission hq that he was missing his favourite food. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk: theresa may has been discussing brexit with her spanish counterpart. she says the uk is close to a deal to move on to trade talks. labour said the government's approach to brexit was

now an embarrassment. now on bbc news all the latest business news live from singapore. canada tries to salvage free—trade talks with the chinese before the prime minister, justin trudeau, wraps up this trip to the mainland. and the chief of air france launches an airline catering to minelli and —— millennials. will be id take off? —— idea. good morning. hello, world. it is wednesday. glad you could join us it is wednesday. glad you could join us for another action packed edition of asia business report. i'm rico hizon. we start of canada and the prime minister, justin trudeau, has left beijing for the industrial city of gwangju on his men they too. he met the country's leader xi jinping

on tuesday for a state dinner. china is currently canada's second—largest trading partner with annual bilateral trade worth around 70 billion us dollars. the two sides had expected to launch formal negotiations for a free—trade pact during mr trudeau's visit, but progress is proving to be slow. china has had similar agreements with new zealand and australia. earlier, i spoke rolling. he has taken a principled approach to free trade. i think i has been stable and fixed in his approach that any trade deal to become rancid, progressive, and ultimately to the benefit of canadians. is it to principles? he wa nts to canadians. is it to principles? he wants to achieve trade deals

involving labour, gender, and governance issues. i think the prime minister will be empowered by the fa ct minister will be empowered by the fact the dpp is called the comprehensive and progressive trans—pacific partnership. and i think he wants to show to canadians that the electorate back home, that he is focused on these ideas and that he is not going to sell the shock to the chinese. but he is now in china. everyone thought that the negotiations would start. he is towards the end of his milan 2—up. can it still be salvaged? something can still be salvaged. this government is very good at guessing solutions and outcomes and announcing them in a way that announces all stakeholders. economic growth in australia hasjust announces all stakeholders. economic growth in australia has just come in. just shy of amla' expectations at 0.6% for the third quarter ——

a nalysts at 0.6% for the third quarter —— analysts deposit occasions. australia has extended its record straight doubling 100 five quarters without a recession. but are there some clouds on the horizon? ijoined by timothy mcdonald. more than 25 yea rs by timothy mcdonald. more than 25 years without a recession. this is a record. it is a record. are you familiar with the name steven bradbury? who is he? he was australia's first winter olympics gold—medallist, this set —— skater. he won because literally everyone else in the race fell over on the ice will stop i do not think that will happen in the next winter games. in some ways i —— australia seems like the steven bradbury economy. it just plods seems like the steven bradbury economy. itjust plods along. the growth does not tend to be spectacular, but somehow it never seems to fall over. itjust keeps going. much like steven bradbury,

some of it has been locked. 0n the other hand, standing up is part of thejob if you other hand, standing up is part of the job if you are a speed skater and foran the job if you are a speed skater and for an economy as well. of course, governments on both sides of the aisle have claimed credit for this record streak of going about a recession, but that esky was something is in the economy and in something is in the economy and in some ways it is a bit of an academic figure. australia has had some period of fairly slow growth. right now there are some concerns. there is something of a housing bubble, prices are very high, affordability is low. when you couple that with slow wage growth, the rba has expressed some concern about that. then again, good retail sales figures came out yesterday. the reserve bank is forecasting about 3% growth for next year. a fairly

respectable number for a developed economy. in some ways things are looking good for australia. so long as it does not slip on the ice. the bottom line, the streak continues. it does. thank you so much the update on the australian economy and for this winter olympics gold medal winner, comparing him to the australian economy. my college there, thank you so much forjoining us, timothy mcdonald. india's central bank is scheduled maka monetary policy decision in the next several hours. is expected to keep its rate on hold. recent figures believe that the economy is on the rebound. but consumers have been dealing with rising costs, a new national taxes, and the fallout from a sharp giemont translation. this is what we expect the central bank to do moving forward. i think the only expectation that there is is that

they might ease again. nobody is looking for them to hide. given how inflation is panning out, we have had growth above 6%, i do not see how the central bank can justify easing rates again. what is the biggest challenge right now facing the economy? is it rising inflation, the economy? is it rising inflation, the impact from demontre hurst, or the impact from demontre hurst, or the gst? i would not say that rising inflation is the biggest threat. for next year, definitely i think inflation is coming back on the radar. for now, the economy has to ta ke radar. for now, the economy has to take into account that there are lingering gst related outcomes. apart from these three factors, what could potentially hurt the economy going forward. the focus pretty much remains on many‘s reforms agenda, campaign, we see 2017 being a year

of two halves —— modi's. the focus has been much focus to reform speaking up. elections are coming up. ido speaking up. elections are coming up. i do not see the momentum sustaining 2018. the lead asia economies —— won a start 0xford economics will stop in aviation, air france is hoping to stand out from an increasingly crowded market by launching a new low—cost character. it isa launching a new low—cost character. it is a play on the french word for young. it is the airline's second attempt at courting —— cutting costs. they want to attract millennials were trending items such as organic salad and juices. but is that enough to boost earnings? that isa that enough to boost earnings? that is a question we asked frank turner, the chief executive at air france. it is the answer to several objectives. the first one is to operate a lower cost airline. i'm not saying a low—cost airline. i am saying a low—cost airline. the

second is to project a very light company being able to test and amsa new ways of travelling. new entertainments. we will have new mills. it is about ways of travelling —— menials. mills. it is about ways of travelling -- menials. low-cost carriers are still quite a dominant force in europe. do you think by launching an airline like this it will help you take on the low—cost characters joon is will help you take on the low—cost charactersjoon is not specifically targeted to compete with low—cost carriers. if we do that we have the answer, we have low—cost carriers. the main threat and the main target we have is to compete with the carriers not on the low—cost segment of but in the next segment. not into

leisure or business. will it improve your margins, because air france margins have always been... the idea is to boost our margin. it is also to relieve the pressure on some routes in order to commit to air france mainline as well asjoon to joe, using batterers resources. you have announced a new partnership with jet airways in have announced a new partnership withjet airways in india. how will this help air france? you consider that india is a very big market. we are under representing this market. 0uraim is to are under representing this market. our aim is to increase the presence. the best way to do this is offering the biggest opportunity possible to the biggest opportunity possible to the customers in europe and in india. the market between india and the united states is very active. growing double digits. as you know, wea growing double digits. as you know, we a very strong partnership as we

create this new opportunity and this joint venture. what we will bring to the indian market is a seamless experience between india and the us market. frank turner of air france. letters have a quick look at the markets. currently mixed and lacklustre. this is after us stocks closed in negative territory overnight. thank you so much for investing your time with us. i am rico hizon. sport today is up next. the top stories this hour. russia is banned from the 2018 winter olympics for doping, but the country denies any wrongdoing. leaders across the middle east warn president trump that moving the us embassy to jerusalem would seriously damage the peace process. christine keeler, the model who found herself at the centre of one of the great political scandals of modern times, has died at the age of 75.

she became famous for her involvement in the profumo affair in 1963 — a scandal that rocked the british establishment — when she had an affair with the conservative minister john profumo and with a russian diplomat at the height of the cold war, as nick higham reports. # she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah # it was the biggest scandal of the 1960s, and christine keeler was the woman at its centre — model, party girl, mistress of powerful men. john profuma was the ministerfor war. he and christine had a brief affair. when challenged, he lied about it to the house of commons and was forced to resign. it didn't help that yevgeny ivanov, a kgb spy, had also been seeing keeler. the old establishment never recovered from the shock. the profuma affair spelt the end of prime minister harold macmillan's government, but also the end of an era deference and respect in which had been discreetly swept under the carpet.

it was one of the first occasions when politicians were held accountable for their private behaviour and their bedroom antics actually had ramifications in their political careers. christine always claimed she was more prey than predator. i wish that at that time i had been older so that i would have been able to have answered or spoke up for myself. she'd left school at 15, her childhood home had been a pair of converted railway carriages. she'd a child at 17, and then lived with peter rachman, a notorious slum landlord. later, a west indian boyfriend was charged with assaulting her and christine lied in court. she was jailed for perjury. who is that, by the bins? she lives here. she owns the shop round the corner. she went on to write three books, one filmed as scandal. christine was happy to help with the film's publicity. i've told you, i'm happy as i am.

i never felt bitter i think that's some press have said that. but i've never felt bitter, maybe they were hoping i was, but, no, not at all. i haven't felt bitter. i'm pleased that the truth can come out now. but she was often broke, a victim, many thought, of establishment hypocrisy and two marriages ended in divorce. tonight her son said she'd earnt her place in british history, but at huge personal cost. time now for all the sports news in sport today. hello, i'm tulsen tollett and this is sport today, live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on this programme: russia has been banned from february's winter olympics but clean athletes can compete as neutrals. atletico madrid draw with chelsea but fail to make it through to the knockout stages of the champions league. and england take the second ashes

test against australia to a decisive final day in adelaide as they look to level the series. hello and welcome to the programme. lots to get through. but we start with the news that russia has been banned from competing at next year's winter 0lympics. the international olympic committee fronted the media in lausanne earlier and explained their decision after a 17 month investigation headed up by the former president of switzerland, samuel schmid. here's the president of the international olympic committee thomas bach. the report clearly lays out an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the olympic games and sport. the report includes, in particular, the manipulation of the anti— doping lab retreat at the 0lympic winter games at